HOWND's Jo Amit and Mark Hirschel and their dogs Laila and Roxy were honoured to be chosen to host Cruelty Free International's monthly award ceremony. This month, Alex Mayer, MEP for the East of England, collected her award as Cruelty Free International's ‘Parliamentarian of the Month'.

The MEP, who is a member of the cross-party Animal Welfare Group in the European Parliament, is passionate about animal welfare and received the award for April 2018 for supporting the Cruelty Free International global campaign to end animal testing for cosmetics.

The MEP received the award from HOWND Directors Jo Amit and Mark Hirschel along with their office dogs Laila and Roxy.  HOWND, manufacturer of cruelty-free pet care products, is very proud of its Cruelty Free International Leaping Bunny certification which it was awarded in 2015 and was thrilled to have been invited to host the event.

Jo Amit, Director of HOWND, said: "We were very honoured to have been chosen to present Cruelty Free International's ‘Parliamentarian of the Month' award to animal rights advocate MEP Alex Mayer.

Alex is instrumental in helping the organisation reach its goal of 8 million petition signatures, and we are incredibly proud to be involved in supporting the global ban on cosmetic animal testing.

Last year Alex joined shoppers and staff at the Braintree Freeport and Chelmsford stores of campaign partners The Body Shop to show her support and sign the petition calling for the United Nations to adopt an international convention that will end animal testing for cosmetic products and ingredients across the world by 2020. The petition has now reached over 5.5million signatures.

Michelle Thew, Chief Executive of Cruelty Free International, said: "We are over the moon to champion parliamentarians who show concern for animal welfare and take steps to help end the suffering of animals in laboratories. Alex has been a strong advocate of animal welfare and has supported the Cruelty Free International campaign to end cruel and unnecessary cosmetics testing on animals."

MEP Alex Mayer said: "I'm delighted to receive this award from Cruelty Free International and to have had the opportunity to work closely on their campaign for a global ban on animal testing for cosmetics. With the range of cosmetic options and non-animal testing methods available, there is no reason for animals to suffer for our beauty anywhere in the world. The ban works in Europe and it can work globally too."

This year marks the five-year anniversary of the European Union's outlawing of the sale in Europe of new cosmetics tested on animals. The move - made by the world's largest cosmetics market - followed earlier bans on the testing of cosmetics products on animals in 2003 and of ingredients in 2009 and has inspired legislation across the globe.

However, despite the availability of approved non-animal testing methods and existing ingredients safe for human use, there are still no laws banning animal tests for cosmetics products and ingredients in 80% of the world. Cruelty Free International estimates that over half a million animals - from rabbits to mice, rats, guinea pigs, and hamsters - are still used annually in cosmetics testing worldwide.